Kate Middleton’s Royal Heritage

Prince William’s girlfriend, Kate Middleton, may not be so common after all. She apparently has some royal blood in her, being a descendant of King Edward III and Queen Phillipa.

According to a genealogist working for the Daily Express, Kate’s family tree can be traced back to Henry Percy, the third Earl of Northumberland. This, says the paper, means Kate and her sister Pippa can “claim blood ties with every crowned head of Europe and the majority of the British peerage”.

The genealogist explains, “Kate’s great-grandmother, Olive Lupton, an upper-middle-class Victorian, was 13 generations in descent from Henry Percy, third Earl of Northumberland. Olive was therefore 16 generations in descent from Edward III and Queen Phillipa.”

I don’t think this will change her relationship with Prince William and the British royal family at all. But it must be nice to know she has royal ancestors. I wonder if she’s known it all along.